Compilation of public domain and Creative Commons caricatures by “DonkeyHotey” (14 January 2016) [Flickr / CC-BY-SA 2.0 license] * * * * * Here are some thoughts of mine from a ferociously contentious Facebook thread today (see it for the full exchanges), which was (ostensibly) about an earlier article of mine devoted to Donald Trump. Many seemed to be under the mistaken impression that I am either contending that Trump is 1) perfect and saintly, 2) the best of the original 17... Read more
Portrait of Martin Luther (1483-1546), the founder of Protestantism (1545); workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger (1515-1586) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] * * * [originally posted on 15 September 2003, in reply to a Reformed Protestant] * * * This problem exists, always has, and always will, and can’t be overcome by any Protestant internal principles, no matter how nuanced and sophisticated and respectable and truly in line with “Reformation heritage”. The reason for that is very simple:... Read more
+ Trump’s Ten Policy Points & Analysis of Catholics & the Democrat Party Donald Trump at a New Hampshire Town Hall on 19 August 2015 at Pinkerton Academy in Derry, NH. Photograph by Michael Vadon [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license] [originally published on 1-6-16] * * * * * This is taken from exchanges on my Facebook page today. Dr. Edwin Tait is a friend who is an Anglican Church historian, very favorable to Catholicism. I asked him to describe... Read more
Pope St. John Paul II in Cali, Colombia: June 1986. Photograph by Hernan Valencias [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license] * * (5-16-06) * * * From: The One-Minute Apologist (2007), with additional commentary. * * * * * THE PAPACY How can one man be infallible? We know that all men make mistakes, so this is an unreasonable doctrine Initial reply With God all things are possible. If He chooses to protect a man from error, He can... Read more
My son Michael and his fiancee Anna (July 2015). To be married in May 2016. * * * (12-8-06) * * * * * This topic always generates all sorts of controversy; never fails. This took place in a thread at Debunking Christianity. I was foolish enough to think I could get somewhere with sociological data, in dealing with sex and societal trends regarding same. It seems not. But you never know. Some seed of doubt may have been planted... Read more
Are Christian Women Abused as “Sheep”? St. Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897): Doctor of the Catholic Church [public domain] (9-20-10) * * * * * This article has been re-uploaded under the title, Dialogue: Sexist, Misogynist Bible and Christianity? (Debate with Five Atheists. Are Christian Women Abused as “Sheep”?) ***** Read more
1730 edition of The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas a Kempis (1379-1471) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] * * * * * (6-2-09) *** I was asked to provide a list of “Top Ten List of Books I Think Catholics Should Read”. Here’s what I came up with.All of these have been hugely influential in my own life, and I think they are very important books, that would be of spiritual and educational benefit for anyone (though the Cardinal Newman... Read more
Baptism of St. Augustine, as represented in a sculptural group in Troyes cathedral, France (1549) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] * * * (3-8-06) * * * * * I think the choices with regard to the history of the doctrine of baptism really boil down to: 1) belief that the Apostles had one teaching on the subject, and 2) belief that the Apostles contradicted each other, and/or that the Bible is internally incoherent on baptism, and/or that several contradictory... Read more
A procession of the Blessed Sacrament during the first Annual Southeastern Eucharistic Congress in Charlotte, North Carolina (9-24-05) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] * * * * * (6-18-07) * * Color codes: [all Lutherans] Rev. William Weedon: blue Tom R.: purple Rev. Paul T. McCain: green John H.: orange Joe.: red * * * * * Note that the Lutherans in 17th century Magdeburg DID continue to observe Corpus Christi – in the sense that the Divine Service on the... Read more
Forest clearing in Alsace, Eastern France. Photo by Jovan Cormac, 6-6-08 [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license] * * * * * (written in 1995) * * * Paul the Presbyterian: Hey Dante! What is this nonsense about purgatory [spoken with a grimace] that you Catholics teach? Haven’t you read that “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” (2 Cor 5:8)? Dante the Catholic: First of all, you’re misreading that verse.... Read more
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